Elvis Presley...75

He’d be 75 years old. January 8, 1935.....the day Elvis Presley was born.

It is hard to believe all those years have passed since Elvis first sang Heartbreak Hotel in 1956, and long after his movie, Love Me Tender, hit the theatres. Tends to make one feel old!

A Sacramento radio station announced today they are changing their music format, beginning at 6:00 AM, Friday, January 8, 2010, and they will feature Elvis for the day.
K-Hits 92.1 FM "All Elvis, All Day" will debut Friday at 6 a.m., according to the station.

I have written about Elvis before, HERE and HERE.

~Linda

Elvis Presley Never Dies

As always, for many years now, it is hard to get through early January without thinking about Elvis Presley. January 8th, 2009 he would have been seventy-four. Those of us who grew up with Elvis and his early success can’t help but realize we are not too far behind that age.

I was listening to the radio show Coast to Coast AM the other night and a discussion by George Noory and his guests of the theory that Elvis never died. These gentlemen all concluded Elvis died. Funny, how after all these years since his death in 1977, there is still that conspiracy theory out there that he staged his own death to escape the public or that he was in the Federal Witness Protection Program. I was looking at a couple of youtubes about this theory. Facts can be easily distorted, and I saw nothing credible to indicate that Elvis was not dead. Isn’t it somewhat amusing that some, for whatever reasons, won’t give up on the idea that he faked his death.

Many of us who were fans of Elvis and his charismatic personality, his sensuality, his music, his spirituality, and all, are still fans. He’s a part of us. Part of who we are, who we were. President Jimmy Carter said it well shortly after Elvis’ death in August of 1977:

"Elvis Presley's death deprives our country of a part of itself. He was unique and irreplaceable. More than 20 years ago, he burst upon the scene with an impact that was unprecedented and will probably never be equaled. His music and his personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular culture."

It’s interesting how certain events, certain people, stay in our minds: people we’ve never met, never known personally, but despite that, they become very much a familiar figure, a friend, a hero, even someone who gives us comfort in reading their words, or hearing their voices, seeing their image. Although it could be viewed as a one-sided relationship, each gain something from it on some level, conscious or unconscious.

A meeting of the minds, a meeting of the heart, a meeting of the soul.

You may want to read more of what I previously wrote of Elvis in my August 2007 archives.

~Linda

This song, Old Shep, written by Red Foley (1910-1968) is said to be the first song Elvis sang in public, at the age of ten.

And this song, The Wonder of You, was written by prolific songwriter Baker Knight (1933-2005).

The Look of Elvis

Elvis Lives On

It has been thirty years since Elvis Presley died. It hardly seems possible. Throughout life there are a handful of events in which one can remember where they were and what they were doing when it happened. Things like the Kennedy assassination, your wedding ceremony, birth of a child, 9-11, a special celebration, are usually recalled with vivid memory. For many of us, the day Elvis died is imprinted in our memory.

I was at my arts and craft store, and decided to go across the street to the hometown drug store and buy a snack. I was paying for my candy bars when a small radio sitting on the shelf behind the cashier, announced the news of Elvis’ death. Unbelievable. I walked out, and stood on the corner feeling sadness, feeling a loss of an old friend. I never saw Elvis in person.

It all began for me in 1956. Some years back I wrote this, through the eyes of the teenager I once was:

Sharon was still excited as we went into the small record store a short distance from our homes. She had been excited since the previous day when she called to share her discovery with me. She told me I wouldn't believe my ears. But who was this guy anyway? I had never heard of him before. What a funny name. Elvis?

The owner of the store put the 45 record on the turntable and the music began. Wow! Sharon had been right. I could not believe my ears.

What a song, what a voice! Where had this guy come from? She had told me last night on the telephone that he was good looking and as I listened to the music I studied his face on the poster that was hanging on the wall. What an understatement she had made. This guy was gorgeous, and man, so sexy. Look at those eyes! I do not believe that charisma or sex appeal was really a part of my vocabulary then but it would not be long before those words became attached to his name in my mind.

The store owner was trying to sell us. Heck, he did not have to do that. Who wouldn't have wanted to take Elvis home with them? Any young girl in her right mind would and he told us that if we bought the record we would also receive an Elvis poster along with it. We could not dig the money out of our purses fast enough.

Elvis was going home with each of us! We were in love!

Let me tell you, that guy would never find himself at the end of some lonely street in some run-down hotel. No, not if the two of us were around. You could bet on that!

A few months later, we were at our local theater numerous times watching Love Me Tender.

Now, fifty-one years later, I see on television the tens of thousands who are in Memphis to honor Elvis. Wednesday night 50,000 were expected at a candlelight vigil at Graceland. People have come from Europe and Asia, from everywhere, to Memphis.

Elvis hasn’t died. Not really....

Linda
P.S. Sharon and I have been friends since we were six years old! A long time!